Ah! It’s almost the end of January – sorry for the delay! My thoughts on the top 10 trends:

10. Style Over Tradition – Screw tradition! If you’ve got something cool and stylish, I’m probably gonna choose that over something that’s been seen a million times.

9. Humanizing Pets – This one can be really cute or really creepy. Sweaters make sense in the cold NYC weather, but some people just go overboard. Pet tanning beds and spas?! Come on! I do feel like a lot of people in my generation are either choosing not to have kids or are delaying the process, so many of us are starting mini-families with pets instead. Let’s just try and remember that they’re pets, okay?! Read the rest of this entry »

I just spoke to my 85 year-old grandmother (happy birthday, Bonne Maman!) and she said that they were going to watch the inauguration coverage at 5pm (10am Eastern – that’s now!). It’s amazing to see the world come together to support the US. They’re ready for us to get our sh*t together, let’s make them proud!!

Remember little Adolf Hitler, whose parents couldn’t get ShopRite to make him a birthday cake? He and his two sisters, JoyceLynn Aryan Nation and Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie, have been taken into state protective custody. No word on why they were taken away.

Really? They have crazy parents?! I could’ve told you that. The kids are freaking cute, but that Dad is creepy! And they’re complaining about getting harassed – um, what about your children?! Why didn’t you think about that when you named them?! Ah! People are crazy.

Man, HBO is going all out promoting this season of Big Love! I’ve been seeing signs in all the bus shelters since the beginning of January and yesterday I noticed that every single ad in the subway tunnel between the 1,2,3 at Times Square and Port Authority is a talking Big Love ad. The ads have a place you can put in headphones and hear the character’s secret. Kinda insane, right? They’re doing the sound ads in LA too (and giving disposable headphones!).

Well today they topped it off! A bunch of people were walking around 42nd street handing out fliers with these crazy plastic thought bubbles above their heads (attached to some kind of backpack contraption) telling their secret, which goes along with the campaign’s “Everyone Has Something to Hide” theme. I saw “I enjoy vodka at breakfast.” and “I’m cheating on my wife. With a man.” It KINDA looked like this:

I’m currently in the process of leaving one job, moving cross-country, looking for a job and just generally finding my place in life. It’s very exciting but a lot of work too! A friend forwarded me the job description for the BEST JOB EVER
and I’ve found it all over the blogsphere today.

Imagine waking up to this sight every morning. I loved our sunrise walk at Byron Bay, Australia!

Those Australians are smart people! Let me just say that I will most definitely be applying. I don’t care if 10 million people apply. I’m going to try my hardest to make my application memorable. If you were part of the hiring committee, what would you be looking for?

Australia is one of the most amazing places I have ever been, and I would love to spend more time exploring everything it has to offer and sharing my experiences. Endless vacation that pays $100,000?! Hell, I’d do it for free! Sign me up!

I feel like the months of December and January are full of lists – wishlists, resolutions, lists recapping the year and predictions for the year to come. 2009 is no exception. There are plenty of people trying to guess what this year has in store for us. Some of them seem accurate, some seem totally random.

Check out Trend Hunter’s Trends in 2009

Here are my thoughts on numbers 20 – 11.

20. Return to the Kitchen – I would say that this “trend” has been around for a few years, if not longer (and my parents would say it’s no trend at all, it’s just being smart!). For those of us with several restaurant numbers programmed into our phones, the rising popularity of the Food Network and cooking shows, the credit crunch and an increasing emphasis on healthy eating may lure us into the kitchen. If this is considered a trend, it’s one that I’m happy to follow. It’s fun, easy, can be really inexpensive and it feels good to know exactly what’s going into your food.

19. DIY and the Rise of the Cottage Industry – Another one I’m happy to see increase in popularity. I went through sewing, knitting and crafty phases but usually find my creations half-finished in a bag in my closet. Maybe my dream of designing and making jewelry and clothes will lead to supplemental income? Not if everyone else has the same idea.

18. Ugly Beauty – That first guy is scary! I like this one, because it celebrates “what seems real,” but I don’t know how much this will pick up in advertising and media. I’m pretty sure we’ll still be bombarded with unrealistic images.

17. Hollywood Viral – Kinda cool because it proves that the best way to access a lot of people are through channels that “regular” people can access, even though name recognition is a big reason that people check out their sites and videos. Blogs and YouTube? I can do that! Using my name to draw attention? Not so much.

16. Shockvertising 2.0 – Hey, whatever you can do to catch someone’s attention is fair game, right? I like the creative aspect of this, but some of these ads can push the envelope a bit too far.

15. Geek Pride – At Rice, where I went to college, we used to say that it didn’t matter if we lost the football game, at least we’d get a job. So-called “geeks” are often very successful and that’s a good thing to be proud of. But let’s not take it too far. Yes, the internet has become pervasive and I’m a huge fan, but I don’t know if I’d get an HTML tattoo. Just sayin’

14. Ageless Inspiration – I’m a big believer in celebrating and respecting our elders. If this really is a trend, I’m all for it! But let’s be inspired by and respect them, not take advantage of and laugh at them, okay?

13. Urban Gardening – As someone who’s lived in a crowded NYC apartment, this one is certainly appreciated. Anything to add a little green is a good thing.

12. Physical Customization – Totally cool! My bf and I made customized Nikes and Pumas two years ago, but I don’t anyone else who took advantage of the feature. The shoes weren’t more expensive than other designs on their sites and we could pick the color combos and fabrics, which made for ultimate creativity and individuality. I’m excited to hear there are more options to do stuff like this!

11. Virtual Tourism – Also a cool idea, especially when it’s accompanied with an article or for kids learning about the world. But I do think that being in a place with all the people, noise, SMELLS, can’t be beat by anything virtual.

…you bring your laptop into the bathroom stall with you. Seriously, this happened in my office today. Some lady was sitting on the toilet with her computer on her lap. Um, what’s she gonna tell the IT guy when it falls in the toilet?!

This is an old posting from Jezebel, but I just recently read it again and remembered how weird it was and thought I should pass it along so I’m not creeped out alone (I’m nice like that…lol). The woman featured in the video has a 7-year old who is still breastfeeding. That’s at least 3 years too old, right?!